Emily Jenkins had spent much of the week convincing herself that the email probably wasn’t coming.
The East Tennessee State University junior had just finished a difficult swim workout with the university’s triathlon team and was cooking dinner for her younger sister when she checked her inbox.
Then she stopped.
“I just stared at it in disbelief,” Jenkins said. “I was very shocked.”
Jenkins had been named a finalist for the Rhodes Scholarship, one of the world’s most prestigious academic honors.
Her sister started jumping up and down. Her mother cried when Jenkins called and told her the news. Later, Jenkins, her sister and her best friend marked the occasion simply: with a piece of cake.
And Jenkins is not going to the Rhodes finalist interview alone.
ETSU alumna Kyah Powers, now at Georgetown Law, has also been named a finalist, earning the distinction for the second consecutive year and giving the university two Rhodes finalists in the same cycle.
Together, their selections mark ETSU’s fourth consecutive year producing a Rhodes finalist and bring the university to five finalist selections since 2023: Shivam Patel in 2023, Trent White in 2024, Powers in 2025 and both Powers and Jenkins in 2026.
Each year, 32 students from the United States are selected as Rhodes Scholars to pursue fully funded postgraduate study at the University of Oxford.
For a regional public university, ETSU’s sustained presence among the finalists reflects something larger than a single application cycle.
“To have two Rhodes finalists in the same year is remarkable.” ETSU President Dr. Brian Noland said. “For four consecutive years, our students have demonstrated that they can compete with the best scholars in the nation. Emily and Kyah represent the talent, determination and spirit of service that define this university and this region.”
Seeing potential before she saw it herself
Jenkins is from Mars Hill, North Carolina, and was homeschooled before attending Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College through its Career and College Promise Program. She finished high school with an Associate in Science degree.
At ETSU, she has followed an unusually interdisciplinary path.
Jenkins is double majoring in biomedical health sciences and bluegrass, old-time and roots music studies with a minor in culture and health. She is also the first student from ETSU’s Quillen Honors Scholars program to become a Rhodes finalist.
She said Rhodes was not something she imagined for herself when she arrived at ETSU.
“There were professors and faculty who mentioned it to me during my freshman year, and at first, I didn’t believe them,” Jenkins said. “As I spent more time at ETSU, I had professors and mentors who continued to challenge me and encouraged me to pursue opportunities I wouldn’t have considered for myself.”
The scholarship particularly appealed to Jenkins because of its emphasis on academics, athletics and service, areas she has been able to pursue throughout her time at ETSU.
If selected, she hopes to explore questions at the intersection of health and human experience, including how culture, environment and experience shape health while deepening her understanding of the neurobiological mechanisms underlying trauma and resilience. She ultimately plans to attend medical school.
“I wouldn’t be here without the mentors and professors who have encouraged me, challenged me and helped me get to this point,” Jenkins said. “They have believed in me even when I didn’t necessarily envision these opportunities for myself.”
A return to the Rhodes interview
For Powers, this recognition brings another opportunity to compete at the highest level.
A Dobyns-Bennett High School graduate, Powers graduated from ETSU in May 2026, having double majored in political science and philosophy with a minor in environmental studies. She was a member of both ETSU’s Roan Scholars Leadership Program and Undergraduate Research Honors Program.
When she was first named a Rhodes finalist in 2025, Powers said the achievement was not something she could have imagined.
“I don’t come from a background where this is something I would have expected for myself,” she said at the time.
Powers is currently in her first year at Georgetown Law, one of the nation's most prestigious law schools. Having been so close last year to reaching her dream of studying at Oxford University, she figured she had nothing to lose by applying again.
Powers said being selected as a finalist for a second consecutive year comes with “a great deal of gratitude and hope.”
“I have learned so much in the past year about life, my aspirations and my guiding principles,” Powers said. “It means that I have a chance to demonstrate all the growth afforded to me by hard work and my community.
“Being named a finalist for a second time means that there are people who heard my story, and even though it wasn’t a story of a narrow road to success, they had faith in me,” she added.
Her second selection adds another chapter to a remarkable run for ETSU students.
‘The talent has always been here’
Dr. Carson Medley, director of the Office of Prestigious Awards, sees that run as evidence of something deeper than successful applications.
The Rhodes process places significant weight on recommendations from people who have closely observed candidates’ academic, leadership and personal development. Medley said that makes ETSU’s success a reflection of the relationships students build with faculty and staff across the university.
“The staff and faculty who write her letters don’t just know the applicant in passing but really know the applicant,” Medley said of Jenkins. “They have mentored the student, seen her at all scaffolded phases in her development as a scholar and person.”
Medley said ETSU has demonstrated an ability to identify promising students, nurture their talents and encourage them to pursue opportunities they may not initially imagine for themselves.
"The talent has always been here," Medley said. "The trick is finding the right people willing to carve the marble and set the angel free."
ETSU established its Office of Prestigious Awards less than four years ago. Since then, the university has expanded the infrastructure surrounding nationally and globally competitive awards while continuing to rely on faculty mentorship, undergraduate research, interdisciplinary learning and leadership development.
“ETSU has shown for the last four years, not limited to Rhodes, that our staff, faculty, and administrators identify, nurture and develop talent — they recognize the angel within the marble and merely start carving to set the angel free,” said Medley.
That success extends beyond Rhodes, with ETSU students earning and competing for a growing number of nationally prestigious scholarships and fellowships.
“Emily and Kyah’s achievements illustrate what can happen when exceptional students are surrounded by faculty and staff who take the time to know them, challenge them and invest in their aspirations,” said Dr. Kimberly D. McCorkle, provost and senior vice president for Academic Affairs. “This sustained success reflects the strength of our academic programs, the depth of mentorship at ETSU and a culture that encourages students to imagine possibilities beyond what they may have thought possible when they first arrived.”
For Jenkins, that culture has already changed how she sees what is possible.
“My experience with the faculty here at ETSU has absolutely been one of the greatest blessings of my college experience so far,” she said. “I hope they know how much of an impact they have had on me and how much I appreciate everything they have done.”
Discover more stories of ETSU students and faculty making an impact on campus, across Appalachia and beyond at etsu.edu/trailblazers.
